“No. Zilnek, you are the most junior apprentice. Garnedell and Kilniara are your senior apprentices.” That should be the easiest way to explain. He should act well that way.

Zilnek’s face dropped, saddened. Joe tried to alleviate his disappointment.

“If it helps, they will treat you like you are senior apprentice.”

Zilnek’s confusion only grew, “So am I senior apprentice? Or not?”

“I said no. You are junior. They are your senior.” Right. I’ll have to just keep it simple, I guess. “Maybe Garnedell and Kilniara can explain it to you. I’ll need to go to bed, OK?”

Zilnek nodded quickly and Joe looked to the other two who both nodded in acceptance of Joe’s command. Joe smiled and then looked to the other two, speaking one last time to Kilniara and Garnedell.

“So. You understand. You both say yes, then I’m fine if you have sex together, OK Kilniara? Garnedell?”

Both nodded quickly, a bit of embarasement tinging their cheeks, but Joe let it go and rolled over back to his bed. “Make sure the lanterns and candles are off before you sleep. Don’t stay up too much, we need to conquer a dungeon tomorrow. We will probably get another titl… uh Feat tomorrow. Sleep well and quickly!”

The three quickly responded, excitement obvious in their response. Joe heard their excited conversation mixed with some frustration as the explanations seemed to be difficult for Zilnek, but Joe found himself falling asleep rather quickly. He was still incredibly exhausted.

* * *

Joe stretched, a feeling of deep contentment washing over him even as his eyes drifted open and he woke up. He didn’t move, just allowing his body to stretch while keeping his arms and legs unmoved, although tightened, as his whole torso wriggled in a whole body release. He blinked a few times, staring up at the ceiling as he enjoyed a lazy morning before he finally took a deep sigh and sat up, quieting himself quickly when he saw the two boys still sleeping. Huh… need to stop calling them kids. Zilnek is older than me and Kilniara is only a year or two, maybe? Hmm… how old am I now… anyway… Doesn’t matter… we’re about the same age… but they just seem… so naïve.

Joe sat on the side of the bed, legs draped over the edge with only his poorly made underwear. I miss elastic. Seriously! Elastic! He sighed at the memory of comfort brought from elastic but then stretched again with a deep sighing yawn before standing and moving to a small corner of the room that had some space cleared. Glad I made sure this was clear!

Joe spent a bit of time going through his forms, then noticed a few moments later as one of the boys… men… That sounds so weird… they’re… they seem too young. Joe stifled his desire to shake his head in disagreement with his thoughts and returned his focus to his morning katas. Several moments later, Kilniara came out of her room, dressed and ready for the day, and Joe thought little of it. His practice continued until he’d gone through all of that katas he needed to practice that day and then turned to see the three kids… not kids!... staring at him. The two boys seemed fascinated by his movements while Kilniara seemed just as fascinated but with a tinge of pink across her face. Huh. Why … is she hot?

Joe smiled at the three then went over to get dressed. When he thought of his need to dress, Kilniara’s blushing cheeks made complete sense and he quickly dropped his head away and down as his own blush came to his cheeks. Sheesh... never was embarrassed before like this... Why... Despite Joe’s attempts at disregarding the situation, he couldn’t feel comfortable enough about the it and quickly dressed, keeping his back to the three kids. He took a few moments to calm himself, using the excuse of washing his face in the wash basin and scrubbing himself for a few moments. There were no mirrors anywhere, and it was too bright outside to use the poor glass in the windows as a mirror, and so he brushed his hair with his fingers a few times to give him the time needed to calm himself.

He turned to find the three scattered across Zilnek’s and Garnedell’s beds, staring at him. Joe smiled, but suddenly remember what had happened last night and his smile faltered before he sighed deeply and sat on the bed. Need to make sure this is … understood.

“You guys remember our conversation last night, right?’

All three quickly nodded, each say some form of ‘yes, master.”

Joe rolled his eyes a bit at the master, “And no master, please! Anyway, you understand what I meant. You too, Zilnek?”

The three nodded a bit less certainly, and Joe spent some time making sure his intentions were understood. He wanted them to respect one another, not simply obey rules. He had no desire to set up a series of rules for absolute obedience. He wanted a deeply set culture of respect for one another which would motivate them to make respectful decisions even in situations that might be so unusual that Joe would be unable to give a good example or advice on how to handle them.

It took a good half hour, at least as he felt, but the kids at last seemed to understand and the three were soon in a well thought out debate with one another as they went over the ramifications of Joe’s philosophy. The three seemed to take it well enough but also quickly pointed out that their small group couldn’t expect any reciprocation from those outside their group. Joe acknowledged that easily enough, but then simply told them that this was a way they could choose to interact with each other, and all seemed happy enough to do so, although Garnedell stood to lose the most benefits which he quickly pointed out. Joe quickly countered with his own power and asked if he really wanted Joe to have that much power over Garnedell.

Garnedell’s response was both poignant and powerful, causing Joe’s heart to warm as Garnedell stated that he trusted Joe because he hadn’t taken advantage of him and he didn’t think he would in the future. Joe’s answering smile was both because of Garnedell’s trust in him and because it only proved his point.

“So then, I’m already doing that for you then. It feels nice, doesn’t it?”

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

That simple response seemed to rock Garnedell on his heels, realization flooding his face and amazement raising his eyebrows. Joe simply smiled, satisfied he’d proved his point. When no other responses were forth coming, Joe nodded quickly and turned the topic to the practical.

“So, we got two rings yesterday. I think it would be a good idea to use them. I don’t need them now, maybe later, but not now. Garnedell, you have a good weapon with your staff, so you don’t really need them either, so, is it alright for me to give these two to the others? I want to hunt the goblin king one more time, anyway. You’ll get another later.”

Garnedell quickly nodded, and Joe handed the rings to the siblings, discussing possible weapons they could use until Joe recommended that they stay with a staff, simply because easier to use and less likely the two would harm themselves. Kilniara accepted well enough, but Zilnek argued a bit until Joe had him try out several of his weapons while holding the ring and Joe handily defeated and disarmed him.

“See. It’s not easy. I need to train you first, then you can use the weapon well, but you need lots of practice and training.”

“Ok,” Zilnek replied, disheartened, but accepting.

Joe nodded, “Sorry, Zilnek, but you need to still practice using the weapon, and I’ll teach you. Don’t worry!”

Zilnek nodded easily enough at that, brightening with Joe’s promise of training. Joe smiled at Zilnek, nodding in response before looking at the other three and then jerking his head towards the door.

“Right. Hungry? Let’s go eat.”

All three quickly nodded, and they headed out, the three apprentices quickly clustering behind. Joe heard the two Acokzau pestering Garnedell with renewed quiet questions about Joe and Joe grinned at some of the stories Garnedell shared. The stories, this time, took on a different flavor, no longer focusing on his martial prowess, but how he’d treated and cared for Garnedell. Joe smiled quietly to himself as he glided down the stairs. Huh. Seems like they really do get it.

Joe reached the bottom and glanced through the common room, his eyes lighting on Kukurnal. Kukurnal had the look of an impatient man waiting for the bathroom, his eyes glued on the stairs. Even before Joe noticed Kukurnal, he was already waving them over to sit at their table.

“I’ve already ordered for you. Now, before you flee to the dungeons, tell me more of this reading!”

Joe spent the next forty five minutes trying to explain writing to Kukurnal, and despite the man’s scholarship and intelligence, he seemed unwilling to accept the importance that Joe placed on writing. Kukurnal’s counter’s revolved around the existence of knowledge crystals, and while Joe could not deny their convenience, their scarcity and lack of mass creation made them ultimately the tool of the wealthy. No matter how Joe tried to explain the economies of scale and the impact on society of a significant and wealthy middle class, Kukurnal couldn’t grasp the impact of such numbers or the results that would revolutionize an entire society. He was hampered with the knowledge of the results and the reasons, but the inability to adequately explain how those reasons led to the results. The two stumbled around, with Joe often having to argue that it would happen or that’s just the way it was and Kukurnal was unable to accept Joe’s generalization with support.

The breakfast ended sourly, Kukurnal pushing to understand but rejected Joe’s argument and Joe frustrated since he couldn’t seem to explain well enough. Despite this, the two left as friends disagreeing on an issue and not in anger with each other. Joe apologized for his lack of ability to explain and Kukurnal apologized for pushing so hard. Smiling as they shook hands in the slightly unnerving sliding hands gesture that still caused Joe to shiver a bit, they left each other on good terms and headed out to conquer the fourth floor of the beginner dungeon.

Joe stopped by a weapons shop to pick up two staves for the Acokzau who now had the rings equipped, taking the time to fit them with a proper staff for their height, then taking the time while they traveled through the town to teach them a bit about using the staff. They took to his words with avid attention and Joe felt satisfaction as they took his teaching seriously. Nice to have good students.

After they left the weapons shop, Joe waffled a bit, considering whether to stop by the appraisers to check on the medallion, but ultimately decided to opt for secrecy instead. He could always figure it out later when he got the job to analyze things. Guess we’re heading to the dungeon, then.

They took some time to walk through town, but arrived at the dungeon well enough. They slipped in quickly and headed down with a purpose. Joe stopped for a moment to check out the goblin throne to see if the Goblin King had returned, but found the corner empty. Maybe he’ll be there on the way back? I really want another two of those rings. Would be nice to give one to each of the kids… err… people? Joe sighed, unhappy with both classifications but dismissing the thought as he focused on crossing the monster courtyard of the first floor.

As they crossed the first floor, Joe realized that the two siblings hadn’t yet actually tried fighting with the staffs, and so he lead them over to a solo goblin and pointed the two towards it.

“Why don’t you two try to fight that goblin with your staves. See how it goes?”

The two quickly nodded and set in on the goblin readily. The two soon had a decent pattern going with one on each side attacking and distracting the goblin as it ineffectively tried to engage both the siblings. Joe watched with a critical eye and soon found himself a bit baffled as the siblings both seemed to have natural skill with the staff. They did nothing flashy, but were incredibly effective in the use of the staff. It was almost as if they had experience using the staff before. When the fight finished and they returned while speaking in an excited jumble of overlapping voices that Joe had a hard time hearing. The excitement was infectious, but Joe focused on their expertise and he questioned them.

“So. You’ve fought with the staff before?”

The two quickly shook their heads, “Oh no. This is the first time. The rings are very effective. We can’t use any special attacks, but… using them with basic attacks… well… you saw!” Zilnek grinned excitedly as he waved the staff around.

Huh… those are all considered basic attacks? It almost seemed like they had been practicing years… and yeah… they seemed basic, but still… that… Joe almost stopped to explore the ring’s effects but then stopped himself, looking around the area and decided to head down to the fourth floor. I need to get my cudgel ‘char’ freed and then get back to leveling other jobs. Maybe I can practice with the ring tonight after we get home.

Joe turned back to the second floor entrance, leading the way as the apprentices settled on talking about themselves, introducing each other and telling stories of their past. This continued until Joe had help guide them across the third floor and they found themselves in the tunnel leading to the fourth floor. Joe allowed the conversation to continue, glad that they were getting to know one another, although he focused on trying to see where the fourth floor began. The path between floors actually seemed to stretch significantly further than the previous floors and when he began to get worried about when they would make it to the labyrinth, they finally arrived at the first fork in the road.

Huh. The walls look the same. That’s… going to be annoying. I was hoping that the path between floors or sections would be obviously delineated. Guess I can’t count on that. I might have been in the fourth floor for a while already. Well, time to start draw the map of… wait!

Joe quickly remembered the map for this dungeon he’d gained from the Goblin king. A huge grin of satisfaction settled on his face and he shoved through his belongings looking for the map before flipping… well, unrolling… it opened. Joe looked at it expectantly, the title at the top unchanged, but the page remained frustratingly blank. Joe’s happy smile quickly faded to frustration as he began fiddling with the map, even coming to the point of shaking it. Maybe it’s like those old drawing toys with the two knobs. Shake to clear it… or show it?

Joe tried in silence a few more times before he finally growled softly to himself, “Seriously. This thing is worthless. I mean, it’s not like I needed it for something like the first floor, but still… it would have been nice if…” Ooh… wait…